Clamp bracket for concrete forms



Jan. 10, 1961 c. M. JAHN CLAMP BRACKET FOR CONCRETE FORMS Filed Dec. 15, 1958 JNVENTOR. CARL M. Al-IN FIG. 5

A TT ORA/E Y.

FIG. 1

CLAMP BRACKET FOR CONCRETE FORMS can M. Jahn, 2'640'St. Paul St., Denver, Colo.

Filed Dec. 15,1958, Ser. No. 780,549 9 Claims. (Cl. 248-205) As a development from and an improvement of certain features of the invention disclosed in my pending application for Letters Patent of the United States filed on August 25, 1958, Serial No. 756,786, the instant invention relates to clamp brackets useful in the erection and operative organization of forms adapted to receive and shape concrete in permanent positiomand has as an object to provide a unitary such bracket distinguished by convenience and facility of repetitious use.

A further object ofthe invention is to provide a novel and improved clamp bracket for concrete-forms manipulable in position of use to apply a wedging action significant to proper correlation of form elements with which it is associated.

. A further object 'of-;the invention is to provide a novel and improved clamp bracket for concrete forms that is applicable and manipulable as a unit to securely intercouple, and alternatively to release, tie-rods and bracing timbers typical of conventional concrete form arrangements. r I p A further object of the-invention is to provide a novel and improved clamp bracket forconcrete forms adapted for self-locking installation in position of use and optional release from such use position through simple and convenient manipulations.

A-further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved clamp bracketfor concrete forms that'is durable and efl'icient throughout a long life or repetitious use.

Afur-ther object ofithe inventionis to provide a novel and improved clamp bracket for concrete forms that is practical and economical of production'in any desired range of particular siis.

A further object of the invention is to provide ano'vel and improved clamp bracket for concrete forms that is in-use conservative of labor and form materials.

With the foregoingfan'd other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and operative combination of elements as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my'claims, and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which: 7

-Fig'ure 'lis'a diagrammatic, isometric view of a simple conventional concrete form arrangement exemplifying the use potential of'theinstant invention and showing my improved clamp bia'cket as applied thereto. I I

Figure 2'is a side elevation, on a relatively enlargied scale, of the clamp bracket represented in Figure 1 sp efrom its" position of use. I I I Figure 3 is an elevation of the outer, or left-handynd or the bracket according to 'Figure '2, anemanfve positions of a rriova'blei'element of the unitary assembly being indicated by broken lines.

Figure 4 is a'nelevation ofthe inner, or right-hand, end of the bracket shown in Figure'Z.

As explained in my earlier patent application, above iloted, itis common practice to organize conciete forms as spaeemwarann walls or panels *10 upstanding from a b e '11and spaceda'part by asucee'ssien-er snouidered tie-recs 12 perpendicularly therethrough in extension of upper'margin of the bracket flange 16' insubstantial 2,967,689 I Patented Jan. 10, 1961 t'eriorly against the walls or panels on the outer end ex-tensions of the rods 12 by means wedged between outer margins of the timbers and the head terminations of the rods. Various means have been heretofore proposed and provided to wedge the timbers 13 in their desired association with the walls or panels 10 and terminals of the tie-rods 12, and the instant invention is directed to the provision of novel and improved such means characterized by facility of useand economic advantage.

Analogous to the clamp bracket disclosed in my earlier application, the instant improvement is developed in connection with a rigid bracket member of suitable material, such'as sheet metal, formed in any appropriate or desired manner to provide an open, angular loo'p char acterized by a fiat top portion 14 having a length slightly less than the width of the timber 13 wherewith it is to be associated and adapted to serve as a seat for a timber transverse thereof, an inner end portion 15 fixedly depending perpendicularly from one end of the portion 14, an outer end portion 16 fixed perpendicularly to 'and across the other end of theportion 14 in spaced parallelism with theportion 15 to project as a flange 16' above the portion 14a distance approximating the thickness of the timber 13 engageable thereby and to extend below the portion 14 a distance less than the corresponding dimension of the portion 15, and an inclined bottom member 17 fixed toclose as a brace between lowermar- .gins of the portions 15 and 16 in a consequent outward convergence with the portion 14. The bracket unit comprised from the elements 14, '15, 16, -16 and 17 has any appropriate uniform width, preferably less than the length of the portion 14, and is provided with registered slots 18 and 19 intersecting and opening through corresponding sides of the portions 15.and 16 below and .par- --allel to the portion 14 in a length exceeding the half width of the intersected portions and in a width of lateral opening adequate to freely receive the diameter of the tie-rod terminal extensions. As described in my earlier -appl'ication,fbracket units constructed as thus far 'set forth are engaged by means of the slots 18 and 19 with the tie-rod terminal exterior to the walls or panels 10 :and hang thereoni'nan obvious manner to receive and support a timber'superposed on a serieso'f the bracket topport'ions 14 between the bracket flange portions '16 andt he associated wall or panel, whereafter wedging as applied between the terminal heads of the tie-rods'and rclamping detent featuring the invention is a rigid, generally-triangular unit 20 presenting one plane surface adapted to overlie and swing-relative to the coplanar outer faces of the'bracket portions 16 and 16'. Adjacent a vertex, the unit 20 is apertured for engagement with a stud or headed pin'ZI outstanding loosely therethrough from fixed engagement with andinwardly adjacent the registration laterally of the flange with the inner end of the slot 19 therebelow, and said unit 20 is-si'zed and 3 conformed to depend from its engagement with the element 21 across the major portion of the slot 19 is a maximum width approaching that of the associated bracket. The margin of the unit 20 remote from the stud or pin 21 is preferably arcuate in a spacing from said stud or pin such as to swing about the axis of the latter in overlying relation with the bracket portion 16, and the outer face of the unit area inwardly adjacent said arcuate margin is offset outwardly from the inner face plane of the unit as a wedge or cam surface 22 inclining across and arcuately of the unit width from mergence with the plane of the unit at one side margin thereof to a substantial outward divergence from said plane adjacent its other side margin. The wedge or cam surface 22 carried by the unit 20 is disposed to fully overlie the'inner end of the slot 19 as it is swung with the unit about the pivotal mounting of the latter, and said surface 22 is intersected by an arcuate throat 23. which opens through the side of the unit 20 remote from the open end of the slot 19 and which curves inwardly therethrough in intersecting relation with the surface 22 to terminate in a closed end inwardly adjacent that side of the unit 20 normally adjacent the open end of the slot 19, thus to characterize the throat 23 as opening in the direction opposite to that of the slot 19. The inner end of the slot 19 is formed with an arcuate, upwardlydirected notch 24 sized to embrace the half circumference of a tie-rod extension, and the throat 23 is related with a slight eccentricity relative to the pivotal axis of the unit 20 so as to provide that the open end of said throat is registered with the inner end of the slot 19 as the unit 20 is swung on its pivotal axis while the inner end of said throat is registered with the notch 24 and a complementing portion of the slot 19 as the unit 20 is pivotally actuated to move the inner end of the throat to such position. The maximum lateral displacement of the surface 22 adjacent to the closed end of the throat 23 away from the inner face plane of the unit 20 exceeds the travel requisite to wedge the bracket into its position of use with respect to the terminal head of the rod 12, whereby engagement of the throat 23 over and about a rod extension entered in the slots 18 and 19 suffices to apply shift of the unit 20 about its pivotal axis for development of the desired wedged interrelation of the timber, bracket, rod and panel elements of the form assembly. The eccentricity of the throat 23 relative to the pivotal axis of the unit 20 and the direction of throat opening with respect to the slot 19 establish a unique and practical mode of detent operation. The bracket carrying its novel detent is engaged by means of its slots 18 and 19 with and through lateral shift upon a tie-rod extension between the tie-rod head and associated panel, in which operation the freely-swingable detent is moved from the initial position, perhaps that shown by full lines in Figure 3, in a counterclockwise direction to permit shift of the bracket on the rod extension to engagement of the latter within inner ends of the slots 18 and 19. A timber 13 having then been seated on the portion 14 of the bracket, the unit 20 is swung through an arc in a counterclockwise direction about its pivotal axis to present the open end of the throat 23 in embracing relation with the rod inwardly adjacent the terminal head of the latter, as represented by the broken line showing at the left of Figure 3, whereafter further travel of the detent about its pivotal axis in the same direction operates to elevate the engaged rod into the notch 24 at the inner end of the slot 19 and to simultaneously wedge between the rod head and bracket outer end with secure clamping effect imposed upon the elements so associated with the bracket. For facility in manipulation of the detent in either direction of its operative travel, an integral ear 25 projects at an outward inclination from the lower margin of the unit 20 in position to receive impacts applied by a hammer or mallet to either of its side margins.

The utility, practicality, and advantages of the improved bracket illustrated and above described should be reasonably apparent from the foregoing. As a facility conservative of time, labor, and materials applied to the erection of concrete forms constituted from panels spacedly interlinked by means of tie-rods each engaged by and clampably mounting bracing timbers, a bracket unit is provided for and engaged with each projecting end extension of each tie-rod exterior-1y of the form panels. Each bracket unit is clipped loosely to a rod extension between the panel and terminal head of the rod with a one-hand motion directed to engagement of the rod extension laterally of the bracket unit and within the slots 18 and 19, which operation very naturally swings the detent 20 about its pivotal mounting to dispose it on the same side of the entered rod extension as the open end of the slot 19. As so mounted on a tie-rod, the bracket hangs, by virtue of the unbalance resulting from the length of the slots engaged by the rod, in a somewhat cocked position with its top portion 14 directed generally upwardly. A horizontally-alined series of the tie-rods being so furnished with the loosely-associated bracket units, a timber 13 is applied to and acts through its weight to rock the brackets on their rods into c0- planar disposition of their portions 14, whereafter, the opening of the throat 23 characterizing the detent being disposed to embrace the rod extension inwardly adjacent its terminal head, appropriately-directed impacts applied to the proper margin of the ear 25 are effective to wedge the cam surface 22 between the bracket portion 16 and terminal head of the rod extension for the development of pressures operative to crowd and hold the timber carried by the bracket into secure clamping relation with the form assembly, it being manifest that shift of the detent in such wedging or clamping direction also functions through the eccentricity of the throat 23 to lift the rod extension into the arcuate notch 24 at the inner end of the slot 19. Wedged in position of use as above set forth, the bracket units are secured in place against accidental dislodgement and inadvertent loosening since the frictions of the interengaged surfaces and the inclination of the cam surface inhibit any tendency of the detent to loosen under vibrations to which it may be subject. Removal of the bracket'units preliminary to stripping of the forms is rapidly and easily accomplished through the application of impacts to the ear 25 in a direction effective to free the rod extension from its engagement 'within the throat 23, the notch 24 functioning in this operation to hold the rod extension against any tendency to travel with the detent and to thus prevent bending or binding of the rod extension in reaction to loosening travel of the detent. The wedging action having been relieved at a given bracket unit and the timber thereon supported having been removed, separation of the bracket unit from the rod extension requires only a flip of the detent past and into clearing relation with the open end of the slot 19 and subsequent lateral displacement of the bracket unit from the associated rod. As a unitary assembly including pivotally-associated wedging means, the improved bracket is immediately ready for reuse after separation from a previously-engaged tie-rod and is conveniently manipulable without occasion for the manual interassociation of separate elements in all of its operative dispositions and relationships.

Since changes, variations, and modifications in the form, construction, and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of my invention, I wish to be understood as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claims, rather than by any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention:

1. A clamp bracket removably and replaceably co actable with the headed terminal extension of a rod and a timber transversely thereof, comprising a rigid, angular, closed loop formed with spacedly-parallel, plane end portions and a flat seat portion bridging therebetween, said end portions being formed with side-intersecting, transverse, registered slots parallel to and subjacent said seat portion adapted to loosely and slidably accommodate the rod extension in a length exceeding the half width of said end portions, a coplanar flange continuation of one of said end portions beyond said seat portion and away from the slot subjacent the latter, a detent pivoted to and adjacent the free margin of said flange to swing in contact with and over the exterior plane common to said flange and associated end portion, a cam surface inclined outwardly from the exterior face of said detent to swing therewith in tracking relation over the inner end of the underlying slot, and an arcuate throat traversing said cam surface in side-intersecting relation with the detent disposed and adapted to accommodate and slidably receive a rod extension engaged through the inner end of the adjacent slot.

2. The organization according to claim 1, wherein the spacedly-panallel end portions of the loop are of unequal extent perpendicular to and at the same side of the seat portion therebetween, the longer of said end portions terminates at and in non-obstructing relation with the outer face of said seat portion, and the coplanar flange continuation is an extension of the shorter of said end portions across and outwardly beyond said outer face of the seat portion.

3. The organization according to claim 1, wherein the spacedly-parallel end portions of the loop are of unequal extent perpendicular to and at the same side of the seat portion therebetween, the longer of said end portions terminates at and in non-obstructing relation with the outer face of said seat portion, the coplanar flange continuation is an extension of the shorter of said end portions across and outwardly beyond said outer face of the seat portion, and the inner end of the slot intersecting the shorter of said end portions is laterally enlarged in the direction of the seat portion as a notch latchably ooactable at times with a rod length therethrough.

4. The organization according to claim 1, wherein one of the spacedly-parallel end portions of the loop terminates at and in non-obstructing relation with the outer face of said seat portion, the coplanar flange continuation is an extension of the other of said end portions across and outwardly beyond said outer face of the seat portion, and the inner end of the slot intersecting the end portion carrying said flange is laterally enlarged in the direction of the seat portion as a notch latchably coactable at times with a rod length therethrough.

5. The organization according to claim 1, wherein the throat traversing the cam surface of the detent opens through a side of the latter in a direction opposite to the loop.

6. The organization according to claim 1, wherein said cam surface inclines outwardly from the exterior face of the detent from mergence with the plane of the detent at the side of the latter normally adjacent the inner end of the underlying slot to maximum projection near the side of .the detent normally adjacent the open end of said slot, and the throat traversing said cam surface opens through the merged area of the detent and cam surface in a direction opposite to the opening of said slot.

7. The organization according to claim 1, wherein said cam surface inclines outwardly from the exterior face of the detent from mergence with the plane of the detent at the side of the latter normally adjacent the inner end of the underlying slot to maximum projection near the side of the detent normally adjacent the open end of said slot and the throat traversing said cam surface opens through the merged area of the detent and cam surface in a direction opposite to the opening of said slot in a disposition adapted to register its open end with the inner end of the slot at times.

8. The organization according to claim 1, wherein said cam surface inclines outwardly from the exterior face of the detent from mergence with the plane of the detent at the side of the latter normally adjacent the inner end of the underlying slot to maximum projection near the side of the detent normally adjacent the open end of said slot, the inner end of said slot is laterally enlarged in the direction of the seat portion as a notch latcha'bly coactable at times with a rod length therethrough, the throat traversing said cam surface opens through the merged area of the detent and cam surface in a direction opposite to the opening of said slot in a disposition adapted to register its open end with the inner end of the slot at times, and said throat is longitudinally arcuate in eccentric relation with the pivotal axis such as to at times register the closed inner end of the throat with the position of a rod element latchably engaged in such notch.

9. The organization according to claim 1, wherein an ear fixedly outstands from the margin of said detent remote from its pivotal connection with the flange at an inclination adapted to receive impacts applied to either side thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

